Hurricane Jose is moving west with 90-mph winds

Hurricane Jose is slowly gaining strength as it moves through the Atlantic, though current projections show it's unlikely to hit any highly populated areas. 

The tropical storm was named on Tuesday and became a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon when its maximum sustained winds hit 75 mph. As of 5 a.m. Thursday morning, its wind speed has increased to about 90 mph, and it's moving west at 18 mph. The storm is currently about 815 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, a collection of islands in the Caribbean Sea.

The National Hurricane Center has not issued any coastal watches or warnings yet, but suggests they may become necessary in parts of the Leeward Islands, a group of Caribbean islands that includes St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Martin, and the Virgin Islands. Many of those areas have already been devastated by the effects of Hurricane Irma, which made landfall there yesterday. 

Jose's expected path is not forecasted to be as dangerous or destructive as Irma's, however. The NHC suggests it's likely to curve north, which would mean the storm's force would miss most of Puerto Rico and steer clear of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, and Florida.

National Hurricane Center

Although forecasters are closely watching Jose, Irma remains the most pressing concern, since the "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 storm seems to be heading straight for Florida. Many parts of the state could be hit by the storm as early as Saturday morning. Parts of Florida, including the Keys and Miami, are already being evacuated.

Meanwhile, the US is still recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall on August 25 and severely flooded parts of Texas and Louisiana. The storm dumped as much as 51.88 inches of rain in some spots and caused at least 60 deaths.

The peak of hurricane season is usually around September 10, so it's not uncommon for Atlantic storms to form during this time of year. However, 2017 has been an unusually active year for hurricanes. A third hurricane, Katia, is currently swirling off the coast of Mexico and is forecasted to approach land on Friday or Saturday.

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